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by ambernightcrush 2488 days ago
What's wrong is that there is no profit in selling real estate and housing at below market value, by definition. And in places like the bay, market rents are not affordable to an increasingly large population. Hence, the greedy perception. Developers are acting in self interest and the old system of financing predicated continuous wage growth.
2 comments

Sorry I’m talking in relation to the UK. It’s a much different reason for high prices here than somewhere such as SFO.
Not building towers will result in even higher prices for housing.
At least in the UK the price per square foot greatly increases after each new build that replaces an older one. Surely prices would go down? You can even verify yourself. Go on a property portal such as Zoopla or Rightmove and compare the cost of a new build and old build in the same area. I have yet to find one where the new build is cheaper per square foot.
Prices will still rise if demand is increasing faster than supply. If supply remained constant, the prices would rise even faster.
Of course, people like newer things. But how was the cost of surrounding old builds affected?
> But how was the cost of surrounding old builds affected?

Not sure I understand?

Edit: Anyway, the poster I was replying to was making the point that these towers are alleviating demand and subsequently pushing prices down, which is not happening.

I meant "people who might have bought an old home instead went to the new one".

If I have a market of 10 dumpy old cars, people will pay X for it. If I destroy 1 dumpy old car and add 2 brand new cars, people will pay more for the new cars (like your new building) but the dumpy old ones will be slightly cheaper.

That is not what I wrote. I said the prices with the tower would be lower than prices without the tower, which is not the same as saying prices would decline.

I.e. relative vs absolute.

https://content.knightfrank.com/research/478/documents/en/20...

This research shows that there’s an average of 1.5% price increase per floor. Care to share a counter-claim source?